PAX West 2017: Immortal: Unchained

Friday, September 8th, 2017

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I’m aware that comparisons of games to Dark Souls is somewhat of a trope at this point. The comparison is so over-used that it has lost almost all of its meaning. However, even with this in mind, the comparison is difficult not to draw between the series and Toadman Interactive’s Immortal: Unchained. Unfortunately this is another game I didn’t get to play myself, so my impressions are all based on a build played for me by the developer.

More specifically, Immortal: Unchained looks most like a hybrid of Dark Souls and Gears of War. It’s a hardcore action-RPG, which forces the player to approach situations carefully since it is very easy to get overwhelmed even when there are relatively few enemies around. The difficulty is meant to be unforgiving and punishing, and requires players to exploit enemy weaknesses wherever possible. The main thing that makes Immortal: Unchained different is an added focus on ranged combat, with the starting weapon being an assault rifle while melee weapons are less frequently used.

Immortal: Unchained also give the player the ability to target specific parts of enemies’ bodies. Taking out different limbs will cripple enemies in different ways, such as disabling their weapons or slowing them down. It also opens up the possibility for enemies to only have armor on certain parts of their bodies, meaning you’ll only be able to deal max damage by attacking other parts. Enemies can also have weak points, such as the demo boss and some tank enemies taking more damage when shot on their backs.

We also ran into a few bugs while playing, as a symptom of the game currently being in pre-alpha. The game completely crashed at one point, as well as getting stuck behind a poorly-placed box and needing to restart. However, these problems are apparently fairly rare at this point, which is a good state for a game to be when it’s in pre-alpha.

From how it looks, Immortal: Unchained is not a game for the faint of heart. It’s a game based on trial and error, and approaching situations carefully rather than trying to run and gun. Switching weapons and character advancement can only happen at save points, which limits versatility, and certain weapons need specific stats to be equippable. Unfortunately it’s hard to know exactly how the game feels to play only having watched it, but this may be one to keep an eye on for those interested in this type of game when it releases next year on PS4, Xbox One and Steam.

About Chris Melchin

Chris is a computer science student who has been gaming ever since he knew what to do with a Super Nintendo controller. He's a fighting game player, with a focus on BlazBlue and Under Night In-Birth games. His favourite games include Xenoblade Chronicles 2, Persona 5, and Little Busters. He started watching anime in high school, and his favourite series is Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood. He also writes Vocaloid music for his personal YouTube channel, and has a (slight) obsession with Megurine Luka.